The View from the Other Side
by jypzrose
Summary: After their mother dies, Katniss and Prim move to town live with their aunt. Katniss isn't thrilled, but her neighbor makes the move a little more bearable. Since Peeta Mellark had saved her family when they were 11, Katniss has always been fascinated by the boy with the bread. But, the more she learns about him, the more she realizes she might have to save him now. No Games.
1. Prologue

**The View from the Other Side**

Jypzrose

Summary-After Katniss' mother dies, she and Prim are sent to town to live with their only surviving relative, their Aunt Juniper. The move is difficult for Katniss, but she tries to put on a brave face for Prim. The only good thing she sees is that the apothecary is next door to the bakery where Peeta Mellark works. When they were 11, he saved her family and she's harbored a crush on him ever since. Now, the more she gets to know him, the more she realizes that she might be able to save him.

Disclaimer-I don't own the Hunger Games.

* * *

**Prologue**

_Six months before the start of our story…_

"Mrs. Everdeen," The doctor sighed heavily as he held up the x-ray. Ginger Everdeen tried not to think how much money that x-ray had cost or where she had gotten the money to pay for it. She knew what the doctor was going to say. She'd seen it enough in her years as a healer, she knew the symptoms, and she'd treated them. But, she'd needed the confirmation for herself, so she could plan. For her girls.

Ginger had failed them once, after her husband-their father-had been killed in a mining accident. She wouldn't fail them again. So, she listened as he talked, confirming her diagnosis and talking about options and treatments. All of which were impossible. There was no medicine in District Twelve that could cure her. She wasn't even sure there was any in the Capital of Panem. So, there were no options for her.

"How long?" She gasped, her voice thick with her inner turmoil.

The doctor sighed again and leveled his dark eyes to her blue ones.

"No longer than six months, I'd say. Without treatment your quality of life will deteriorate much quicker than that."

"I live in the Seam. I don't have high expectation for my quality of life." Ginger told him dryly. He sighed yet again at that, folding his hands in front of him.

"I'm sorry," he said and she didn't doubt he was. But his sympathy wouldn't help her now. She needed to go.

"Thank you." She said, standing to leave. She was already going over what she needed to do. She could take care of her own pain and nausea. She would have Katniss harvest the herbs she needed and Prim could help her preserve them.

She left the doctors without another word and walked from his office to the town square. She passed the Justice building, where the long forgotten whipping post still sat. It hadn't been used in years. Not since before the rebellion that had freed Panem from tyranny. Unfortunately, rebuilding a government took time and while the people of District twelve were free and had no fear, they still weren't much better off than they had been.

She stayed lost in thought until she came to the apothecary, which was not far from the bakery. Ginger stood outside the building, her heart pounding in her chest. Memories assault her, some good, most not. This was the place she grew up, where she had learned her livelihood and met the man that would become her husband. The place where her old life had ended.

Now this was the place that would be her daughters' future.

She wasn't sure how long she stood there, her arms wrapped around her thin frame, her mind wandering. She was jolted back to reality when the door swung open.

"Ginger?" The woman standing in front of her, wearing pants and a soft cotton shirt, looked at her with clear green eyes.

"Hello, Juni." Ginger offered her sister after a tremulous smile.

"Wh…what…" she was obviously struggling with her words, her light brown brows pulled together in confusion. Juniper Johnson shook her dirty blond head and straightened her shoulders. She pushed the shock away and leveled her gaze at the younger woman. "What are you doing here?"

There was no malice in the question, just genuine curiosity. They had only spoken a handful of times since Ginger had run away with the miner, the last time being at their fathers funeral the year before. Juniper had been shocked at how fragile her sister had seemed then. But, as her pale green eyes took in the thin frame wrapped in a threadbare blue sweater and a faded blue dress, that was nothing compared to now.

"I need…" Ginger paused and collected a shaky breath. "I need your help."

Juniper stared at her a long moment, dread seizing her heart the longer she looked. Ginger merely waited; her own cloudy blue eyes never wavered.

"All right then." Juniper said with a sharp nod. "Come in. I'll make us some tea." Juniper reached out an arm and ushered her sister into the apothecary shop, flipping the closed sign as it shut. "Go on up. You know the way."

Ginger walked through the shop, breathing in the scent of medicine and herbs, the smells of home. She hadn't allowed herself to miss it, to miss this. She'd made her choice and had never regretted it. Even after Samuel died she would never have changed loving him.

Ginger walked to the staircase that was nearly hidden behind a partition to the left of the service counter. She took the fourteen steps up, avoiding the creaky one out of ingrained habit to the door at the top. She opened it then crossed the threshold to her past.

She paused just inside; taking in just how little had changed in her time away. That felt odd to Ginger. Shouldn't it have changed? She surely had in the twenty years she'd been gone.

"Go on and sit at the table. I'll start the tea." Juniper moved around her, the tail of her braid swinging across her back.

Ginger almost smiled. Juniper reminded her so much of her Katniss then. The braid, the pants she wore, the simple pullover shirt that hinted at the figure underneath. Juniper had never been one for frilly things, or _nonsense_ as she called it. Katniss looked so much like her father, but her disposition was much like Juniper's.

Ginger didn't move to the table right. Instead, she walked to the fireplace, her fingers trailing lovingly over her mama's music box that still sat on the mantle. It was a simple wood box that once wound, played a tinny waltz. Ginger remembered begging her mama to play it when she was little. How she'd laugh when her dad would let her stand on his feet and would twirl her around the room to the music.

Juniper would sit next to their mother on the couch, their family herb book on her lap, smiling at their antics. Their little brother Sage would be playing nearby on the floor. There had been such happiness in this house, in their lives.

Until Sage caught pneumonia and died. Their mother had withdrawn, not like Ginger had, but she didn't smile easily after that. And her father had changed as well. He became cold and distant. A shell of the man he used to be.

It was that man that had forbade Ginger from marrying Samuel, the miner that had brought joy back to her life. It was that man that disowned her when she'd married him.

Now he and mama were both gone and Ginger could finally come home.

"So, Ginger. What do you need to talk to me about?" Juniper carried the same china tea set of their grandmother's that they always used. It was white with delicate yellow daisies. She set the tray on the table and then poured the rich brew into the cups. Ginger smelled lemon and mint and she smiled. It was her favorite. There were tea cookies as well. No doubt bought from Mellark's bakery.

Ginger closed her eyes at the thought of the bakery. She knew of Katniss' fascination with the youngest Mellark boy. Maybe that would make what she was about to do easier on her oldest daughter. And if Katniss was all right with it, Prim would follow suit.

"Ginger?" Juniper narrowed her eyes, concern evident on her face.

"I'm dying." Ginger blurted out, the reality crashing down on her as she heard herself say the words. The stricken look on Juniper's face is what broke her. She felt herself falling, tears clogging her nose and blurring her vision. She kept waiting to hit the floor, but the hard landing never came.

Ginger didn't realize until she felt her head pressed against a soft shoulder and the couch under her that Juniper had caught her. She didn't know how long she cried. By the time she was done, she felt hollow and more tired than she could ever remember being.

"I'm sorry, Ginger." Juniper broke the silence that had fallen between them as Ginger calmed. She pulled back and helped her sister wipe her face, gently tucking a stray blond hair behind her ear. "This family has had more than its share of heartache."

They'd lost their brother, their parents and now that it had seemed that Juniper was finally going to get her sister back, she was going to lose her too.

"What do you need? Medicine? Money?"

"No. I'll manager. What I need," Ginger sniffed and brought her watery gaze to the sturdier one of her sister. "I need you to take in my girls."

* * *

A/n-hrm. Another story. Well, this is basically a tease of the story that I'm going to be writing next. This little bit has been bouncing around in my head for a couple of weeks so I decided to write it down and see if the interest is there. So, this is kind of a downer, but it will get better. Katniss will know how she feels about Peeta, Peeta will still be charming but underneath angry. There will be Gadge. They will get together quicker than Peeta and Katniss. But they will not have a smooth path either. Anyway. Hope you enjoy. Review, review, review. :D Jypz/Lisa

A/n 2-I kept the nature of Mrs. Everdeen's illness ambiguous for a reason. It speaks cancer to me, because I lost both my parent's to cancer. However, I want the reader to make their own assumptions. It could be black lung, cancer, tuberculosis or whatever. And I didn't want to her to commit suicide.


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter One**

_The Beginning of our Story_…

It was pouring the day Ginger Everdeen was laid to rest. A small group of people stood under leaky umbrellas as sheets of late summer rain beat into them. The cemetery sat between the edge of the Seam and the meadow, the small headstones jutting out of the ground in an uneven pattern. No one in District 12 could afford an elaborate headstone; so many went unmarked, while others had a large rock with the dates of birth and death carved into them.

The only graves in the cemetery that had anything bigger were the graves of those that had participated in the Hunger Games. Twenty four children ranging from twelve to eighteen were chosen in a reaping and sent to fight to their deaths in an arena that seemed to be just as determined to kill them as their peers. All for the entertainment of the Capital. Every twenty-five years special rules applied. Those were called Quarter Quells. For the first, the districts had to vote for their tributes. The second, twice the tributes were sent. That was the year District 12 won.

Haymitch Abernathy had lived in a drunken stupor for 25 years, until the third Quarter Quell, when the Capital reaped the tributes from existing victors, and then destroyed the arena. Killing them all.

The Capital had wanted to squelch the rebellion that had been slowly building with each child that was sent home in a box. However, killing all the beloved victors, most of which were in the resistance, had the exact opposite affect. The war that ended the Capitals tyrannical reign over the districts was blissfully quick. President Snow had been killed and a new President voted in his place quickly after. Life was better in Panem, but still not perfect. But no one had to worry about their children being reaped anymore.

Katniss Everdeen had survived one reaping before the fall of the Capital. That same year she had lost her father and her innocence. Now, she stood next to the grave of her mother, in the shadow of all those children that had been sacrificed as the rain wept for all of them.

She watched the box as it was lowered into the ground by her best friend Gale Hawthorne, his younger brother Rory, their friend Thom, the grave digger and Mr. Mellark, the baker. She could feel her sister Primrose's hand gripping hers tightly and could hear the 14-year-old girl's soft snuffles as she cried. Katniss knew that her Aunt Juniper was behind her, holding the umbrella over their heads.

She knew all of this was happening around her, but she felt far removed from it, like it was happening to someone else. Or as if that big whole in the ground was what was left of her heart.

Things had changed so much since that day Ginger had come home and told the two of them about her illness. Prim had cried at first, her thin body pressed against their mother's as the news froze Katniss to her chair. Then, the young Everdeen girl had pulled herself together and threw herself into healer mode, questioning her mother at length about what they would need for her. Ginger had answered her blue eyes never leaving her other, stricken daughter. Katniss had just sat, her mind struggling to accept what was being said.

But all she could think was that her mother was leaving them _again._ This time there was no hope of her coming back to them.

As Prim fussed about herbs and what not, Katniss worried about what they would do if Ginger passed before Katniss' eighteenth birthday. And since she'd just turned seventeen that was a good possibility.

They couldn't go to the group home. Those kids were even more malnourished and uncared for as even the poorest family in the Seam. And once Katniss came of age, there was no guarantee that she'd be able to take Prim with her.

Just as panic was starting to set in, Ginger dropped her second bombshell. Their Aunt Juniper would be taking them in.

"Like hell!" Katniss had spat. Ginger's merchant family had disowned her once she'd married Katniss' father. They hadn't raised a finger after he died to help them, not even when they were starving. Of course, she didn't even think they knew that had happened. But why would she and Prim want to go live with the Merchant's that had spurned their mother?

"Katniss," Ginger had started, her faded blue eyes pleading with her daughter.

"I can take care of us. I've been doing it this long. Or we can stay with the Hawthorne's." Katniss had insisted. Gale was two years older than her. On his eighteenth birthday, he'd gone to work in the mines to supplement his mother's income and help support his younger siblings. His father had died in the same mine cave in as her father. And that was precisely Ginger's argument as to why they _couldn't_ go live with the Hawthorne's'.

"We can't ask them to take in two more mouths to feed. They aren't kin."

"More than this Aunt you're trying to force us onto." She'd shot back. Her eyes burned the longer she looked at the frail woman in front of her. Prim had stared back and forth between them, her face sadness and grief pinching her young face. That's when Ginger pulled out the card that Katniss could never trump.

"It would be a good opportunity for Prim. Your aunt has no children and when she passes, the apothecary will go to you girls." Ginger held Katniss' gaze as she let that sink in. Katniss glanced at Prim to see hope warring with her grief.

Defeated, Katniss merely nodded. Then, unable to deal with all she'd learned, Katniss had escaped the house. She'd spent the night out in her beloved woods, crying.

"Katniss," Aunt Juniper's voice penetrated her thoughts and she looked up. Her aunt's face was wet with tears but her gaze was steady. Katniss was still leery of her, but she'd come to appreciate the older woman's strength. "They're ready."

Juniper nodded towards the grave where the men were waiting. She met Gale's grief clouded grey eyes. He gave her a sad smile and held out his shovel to her. Katniss looked at Prim, who was staring back with wet blue eyes. Prim gave her a smile as well and let go of her hand.

Stepping over to Gale, she took the shovel from him, not caring about the rain beating down on her head. The clothes she was wearing, for the first time in her life, were new and fit well. The sweater and dress were quickly soaked through without the protection of the umbrella. The mayor started to say the final words of the service, his daughter and Katniss' only other friend Madge standing next to him.

Katniss shoved the shovel into the muddy dirt and dropped it on the simple box that held her mother's body. It landed with a heavy wet _thunk_ that made her stomach twist.

Prim stepped beside her, her blond head covered by the umbrella Aunt Juniper held. She took the shovel and repeated Katniss' action. Then, she took the umbrella from Juniper so her aunt could do the same. Juniper then handed the shovel back to Gale and they all returned their attention to the mayor.

"May you rest in peace." Katniss took a deep breath and blinked against the burning in her eyes. She felt a hand reach for hers and give a squeeze. The familiar feel of the calloused fingers had her holding on tight for a brief moment. Then, she let Gale's hand go so they could start to fill in the grave.

"Thank you, Mayor Undersee. You're welcome to come back to the house." Katniss heard Juniper saying. Katniss half listened as Hazelle, Gale's mother, wrapped her in her sturdy arms.

"We'll see you at home." Hazelle said, resting a palm against Katniss' cheek.

"Okay." Hazelle moved away to hug Prim and exchange a word or two with Juniper. Than she herded her two youngest children with her to walk back to the Seam.

Home. For one more night, the house she grew up in would be home. Tomorrow, they'd move to town. Katniss still wasn't sure what to think about it. They turned and watched silently as the med started to fill in the hole, each shovel full of dirt sealing hers and Prim's fate.

"Come on, girls. We need to get some tea started to warm these men up when their done." Juni ushered the girls away from the grave. Madge reached out and gripped Katniss' hand before falling into step beside them. The walk took longer than usual, as none of them were eager to get back to the place their mother had died. So, Katniss wasn't surprised when they stepped inside the tiny Seam house to see Hazelle already there.

She'd brought over a pot of stew that morning and was heating it on the stove. There was bread from the baker, fresh strawberries from Gale, a salad of fresh greens and cheese that Prim had made from her goat's milk. Someone had made lemonade and she could see the kettle on the stove for tea. She saw a plain white box set on the table next to the other food. Curious, Katniss walked over to it and opened.

Cookies. Katniss took one out and traces the delicate flower that it was decorated with. A Katniss flower.

"I ordered those for today. Picked them up this morning and this is what Peeta gave me."

Peeta. How was it, even today, hearing his name made her heart beat faster? She ignored the knowing smirk she was getting from Madge and took a bite of the cookie. It was sweet and buttery, but only tasted like dust to Katniss. She forced herself to finish it anyway.

"I was surprised to see his father here." Madge said pulling Katniss with her to the room she had shared with her mother and Prim. Prim was curled up on their old couch, clutching her ugly cat like a lifeline.

When they got in the room, Madge grabbed a towel from the dresser and handed it to Katniss to dry off. Then she went in search of dry clothes for her friend.

"Aunt Juni said mom and Mr. Mellark were friends when they were kids." Katniss sat on her mother's bed and half-heartedly rubbed her hair with the towel. Madge put the pants and t-shirt she'd found down and took the towel back from Katniss. She set to drying the heavy, dark tresses herself.

In the time after her mother's illness was revealed, Madge had become indispensable to Katniss. She hadn't wanted to tell anyone, but the blond girl she shared lunch with managed to ferret it out of her. After that, whatever the Everdeen women needed, Madge would help in her quiet way. And while Katniss hated owning anyone or asking for help, Madge had put her in her place in that simple, unassuming way she had.

"We're friends. This is what friends do. Get over it."

And really, she wouldn't have questioned Gale or turned him down if he offered. So she let Madge in. It had been one of the best decision Katniss had ever made.

"Are you ready for tomorrow?" Madge asked quietly.

"No." Katniss answered without hesitation. She could hear the movements of the other women in the living room and dreaded going back out there. People would start to come soon. Friends, patients of her mother's, maybe some of Prim's friends. Everyone that wanted to give condolences, the ones that could would bring food, others just kind words. Katniss wanted none of it. She knew it would probably comfort Prim, though.

"It won't be that bad." Madge said, putting the towel aside and finger combing Katniss' hair. Her nimble fingers then began to swiftly braid it as she talked. "You'll be right next to the bakery."

"Madge," Katniss nearly laughed at her friend's persistence. She knew Madge was trying to cheer her up, even just a little and Katniss appreciated it. She just didn't think anything could manage that today. "He hasn't noticed me by now, I doubt he will just because I live next door. I trade with his father every week."

Nearly seven years before, Peeta Mellark had saved her and her family's life. Her father had just died and her mother had fallen into a depression so deep, she couldn't take care of herself much less her daughters. In desperation, Katniss took to digging in the trash bins behind the bakery looking for anything edible. She was crushed to see they were empty. Unfortunately, Mrs. Mellark had seen her and chased her away.

She only got as far as the apple tree in the bakery's back yard before despair had her sinking to the ground. It was raining that night as well. It had been much colder, though.

Katniss had thought she might just lie there and die. She'd pretty much given up when she heard the witch screaming again. She thought that the baker's wife was coming out to finish her off and so she tensed. Instead, she saw the young boy in her class, Peeta. He had two burnt loaves of bread clutched in his hands. The witch shrieked something else, causing him to turn back for an instant. When he looked back at her, his expression was so dark that chilled her more than the rain. Then, he seemed to shake it off and concern replaced it. He darted off the porch and stopped in front of her.

"Here," he said, thrusting the bread at her. She stared at the loaves in disbelief. "Take them, hurry. Before she comes back."

That was all she needed. She snatched the bread, shoved them in her jacket and took off. The next day, she'd seen him across the courtyard at school. She saw the bruise blooming against his cheek and it made her chest ache. His dark blue eyes rose to hers for a long moment. Finally, she gave him a slight nod. After a second of consideration, he returned it. Then, he looked away. Surprised at the hurt she felt, she dropped her grey eyes to the ground and saw a dandelion. Hope bloomed through her as she suddenly realized how she was going to feed her family.

That was the first and last interaction Katniss had ever had with Peeta Mellark, besides being in the same class their entire lives. But, his act of kindness on that cold, rainy night had given her back hope and she knew that she was a goner.

"All right. Change out of those wet clothes and lets get this day over with." Madge patted Katniss' shoulder and stood up. "I'll go get you some tea. Come out when you're ready." Katniss nodded and watched as her friend started to leave.

"Madge?" She waited until Madge paused at the bedroom door.

"Yeah?"

"Thanks, for everything." Katniss told her with a wave of her hand.

"We're friends." Madge said once again. Then she smiled and left Katniss to change.

* * *

A/n- yes. I killed all the victors in the Quell. Including Haymitch. I'm sorry. Please don't hate. But I truly believe that was Snow's intention all along and that it was incredibly naïve that Peeta or Katniss thought either one would get out. Also, I didn't want to have to deal with the hunger games, but I also wanted them recent enough so that they would have impacted Katniss' life in some way. So, hope you enjoy this and please review, review, review. I'm almost done writing Promise to Keep, only two chaps or so left to write. So I decided to play with this one a little. Already started chapter 2. Lisa/Jypz.


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

"I don't see why you have to go." Gale said. Again. He was leaning against the arm of the couch, arms across his chest and his Seam grey eyes narrowed in annoyance.

"Because of Prim." Katniss reminded him. Again. She was moving around the house, packing up their meager belongings while Prim readied Lady the goat and that damn cat of hers for the move. "And I'm still under eighteen." She added.

"We could get married." Gale blurted out. Katniss dropped the box she was holding with a thump and looked over at him with exasperated eyes. She took in his tall form; his dark hair, grey eyes and olive skin, so much like hers. The sharp planes of his face were set in a scowl that could rival her own and his full mouth was set in a harsh line. She was so tired of having this conversation. It was bad enough she and Prim were now orphans, but their entire lives were changing. Gale wasn't making it any easier.

"Really, Gale?" She said in frustration. "We'd kill each other." No, this wasn't the first time he'd brought it up. All it would take was a signature from Aunt Juni giving her permission. But that wasn't what she wanted, her unrequited feelings for Peeta Mellark aside. Gale was her best friend. That was all, no matter how much he apparently wanted more.

"You don't know that." He sounded a lot like his little sister Posy, right after she was told no about something. It made Katniss smile, despite her irritation.

"Yes, I do. And so do you if you think about it." She picked the box up again and moved it to the couch. Five boxes had packed up their life. Katniss didn't know if she should feel sad about that. Aunt Juni had bought them both new clothes and shoes, though they still kept the ones they already had. And Katniss still had her hunting boots and her father's jacket. She could move straight to the Capital, she'd die before she gave those up. But she could appreciate having clothes that didn't need to be mended just one more time, that Prim didn't need to put cardboard in her shoes to try to make them last until her toes were too cramped to move. That there would never be that need again.

Too bad her mother had to die for that to happen.

Katniss drew in a deep breath and pushed away the tears that were threatening to fall. She and Prim had spent their last night, huddled together in the bed they'd shared since Prim was a toddler. She couldn't imagine having her own room, even though that was exactly what would happen at their Aunt's apartment. She'd have privacy for the first time in her life that she didn't have to go out into the woods for. She wasn't sure how either Everdeen girl was going to deal with it.

"Besides," Katniss continued, pulling herself back to the conversation. "I'm not ready for marriage." Back in the days before the rebellion, before she knew what the Hunger Games were and fear and starvation was an everyday thing, Katniss had wanted to get married. When her father died, and her mother had retreated into herself leaving her daughters to fend for themselves, she'd thought that love was a weakness.

Until Peeta threw her that bread and saved their lives. Then her heart had given her no choice. But she vowed to never be her mother. She looked to Hazelle Hawthorne for the example of the way love should be. Her husband had been killed in the same accident as Katniss' father. And instead of letting her grief cripple her, she lived, remembering her husband and honoring his memory by raising her children well, despite the poverty the Seam still felt, even after the war.

Ginger had gotten better, and become the mother they needed. But the damage had been done and Katniss was always hesitant to really trust her mother again.

Gale snorted at that and muttered something under his breath that Katniss was sure was unflattering, but she ignored him. She moved the box she'd been packing with some jars of dried herbs and the rest of her mother's medical supplies over by the door. There were only a few more things to pack, one more box to close on the life she used to live.

The furniture was being left to the young couple that had bought the house. They could keep it, throw it out, use it for kindling. Ginger had wanted to stay in the Seam house as long as possible. If they settled before she got to bad, they would move to town sooner. But, once she signed the papers finalizing the sale, Ginger just seemed to fade away. Like the last thing she'd had to handle was done and now she could let go. It wasn't a week after that when she died quietly in her sleep.

So Gale's insistence on bringing up this marriage nonsense was annoying the hell out of her. He knew the emotional topsy-turvy she was going through and his constant harping wasn't helping.

"We'll still see each other on Sundays. I mean, after you go hunting." She felt a flash of pain in her chest at that. Of course she wouldn't be able to go hunting anymore. She was a merchant now. Merchants didn't hunt. Not that Juni had told her as such, but it wasn't like she or Gale ran into any Town people out in the woods when they were out. "Aunt Juni never said I couldn't see you anymore."

"How nice of her. She ignores you your whole life and now that she has custody of you she won't tell you what to do? Generous." He had nearly broken the bow in two when Katniss had given it to him to give to his little brother Rory. They were going to need it now that she wouldn't be hunting with Gale anymore.

"Gale!" Katniss voice held a hint of warning. He was driving her crazy. She wished he'd gone to work instead of volunteering to 'help' them move. She didn't know the full extent of what happened with her mother's family, but she wasn't dwelling on it right now. As long as Prim was taken care of, she didn't need to know.

Gale opened his mouth to say something but Katniss was saved by the three sharp knocks on the door. Katniss, who wasn't known for being social, was never so glad to have a visitor. She quickly opened the door and greeted her Aunt Juniper.

"You ready?" Juni walked in, her dark blond braid swinging.

"Yeah. Prim's rounding up the animals."

Juni nodded, then turned to the brooding Gale.

"Hello, Gale. Good thing you're around. You can push the cart to town."

Katniss nearly choked on the unexpected laugh she tried to swallow at the look on Gale's face. Juni was…something, Katniss discovered over the last few months. She didn't suffer fools and she didn't harbor any prejudice towards those in the Seam. Which made the rift in their family even stranger to the young woman.

Gale stared at her for a long moment, hostility written all over his tall frame. Juniper met his gaze unflinching until he scowled and muttered something under his breath that sounded like "damn townies," to Katniss. Her hope that Aunt Juni hadn't heard it was shattered seconds later.

"Gale Hawthorne, I understand your dislike for merchants. However, unless you want me to go speak with your mother about the disservice your doing _her_ good name with your atrocious manners, I'd suggest you do the _gentlemanly_ thing and help your friend on what I'm sure is a very stressful day for her. Try to make it easier for her. Not harder."

Katniss' eyes widened at her Aunts words and she nearly laughed at the shocked look on Gale's face. It wasn't often anyone other than Katniss or his mother called him on his bullshit.

"Yes, ma'am." He said, holding Juniper's gaze. Nobody missed the sarcasm, but Gale moved to pick up the first box.

Juni arched a brow at him as he moved out of the house. Then, she moved over to Katniss and inspected the small pile of their belongings.

"Where's your father's bow?" She asked, giving Katniss a puzzled look.

"I told Gale to give it to his brother Rory." Her voice was thick with emotion as she talked.

"Why did you do that?"

"What?" The word came out harsh and she jerked her grey eyes to the woman next to her.

Juni gave a slight shake of her head then pinned Gale with her unwavering gaze when he reentered the Seam house.

"Gale, please go get Katniss' bow and extend her apologies to your brother. She won't be giving it to him after all."

Katniss was stunned, but Gale actually gave Juni a grin. She could see a shift in the way he looked at her Aunt as he nodded.

"No apologies needed. I haven't given it to him yet." He was holding on to it, she realized, sure she would hunt again.

"Well then," Juniper waved him off and picked up a box herself. "Why should I pay Rooba's prices for fresh meat when I have a hunter in the house." She asked, her smirk rivaling Gale's. Katniss felt something in her chest loosen and it was all she could do not to break down. She could keep her bow. _She could hunt._ She hadn't lost her freedom after all.

She managed to smile at her Aunt and blinked to hold back the emotion that was threatening to overwhelm her. It was all too much.

"Come on, child. We want to get going before it gets dark." Juni said gently, her smirk softening to a smile. "Oh, hello Madge." Madge stepped in as Juni moved to step out.

"Hey," Madge said. Katniss didn't answer right away. She still felt precariously close to a melt down and she didn't think she'd ever stop crying if she started now. "Katniss?" Madge stepped closer and took the other girls arm. The touch seemed to jar Katniss back.

"I get to keep my bow." Her eyes were still shining and her voice held a sense of wonderment like she'd been just handed her best dream. Madge smiled and squeezed Katniss' arm. Gale walked back in a little out of breath holding her fathers bow. He must have sprinted the distance between their houses.

"Hi, Gale." Madge said, cheerfully. She was happy for her friend and it showed in the smile she offered him. Gale's grey eyes met hers then quickly shifted away. Madge ignored the pang of hurt she felt at the dismissal.

"Here you go, Catnip." It was a testament of how overwhelmed Katniss was that she didn't snap at Gale for being rude. Again. She reached out and took the bow, smiling as she ran her hands over it. She'd given it Gale right before her mother died, thinking she wouldn't need it anymore. She remembered the way she'd felt as she'd handed it over. Like a piece of her heart had been ripped out.

Now, her Aunt had handed it back. She could barely understand what she was feeling.

"Katniss, honey. You ok?" Madge called softly. Katniss smiled and nodded.

"Yeah. I'm ok." She nodded and sniffed, gathering her emotions back up to sort through later. "I'm going to go get Prim. Can you finish taking these boxes outside? I'll be right back." Katniss slid the blow on her shoulder and walked towards the back of the house to call Prim.

"I know what you're doing."

Madge, who had moved to grab the quiver of arrows from where Gale had placed them on the couch looked over at Gale. His tone was harsh, accusing.

"Excuse me?" Madge asked in her prissiest tone. Usually she hated doing anything that reminded people she was the mayor's daughter. She was quiet, mild mannered and what some might call mousy. But, Gale Hawthorne made her so mad; she could turn the tone on without even thinking about it.

"I know why you're encouraging her this little crush of Katniss'."

Madge sighed and snatched the quiver and moved to put it with the rest of the Everdeen's things.

"This again? What, did Katniss turn you down again?"

"Fuck you Undersee."

_Got it in one,_ Madge thought bitterly. She wasn't sure how Gale had found out about Katniss' feelings for the youngest Mellark. Maybe she'd told him or maybe he'd just figured it out. But he'd wasted no time pinning the blame on her townie friend.

"So, tell me, Gale. What's my master plan, since you have it all figured out." Sarcasm dripped from each word. She crossed her arms over her chest and glared at him. Gale's scowl only deepened in response.

"You figure she'll marry him, become a bakers wife. Have a bunch of baker babies and turn full merchant. Give up hunting, the Seam. Forget who she is. Katniss is Seam, through and through. Hope she remembers that before she gets her heart broken by some merchant." The way he said it, the word merchant, was like a curse instead of profession.

Madge's blue-eyed gaze went blank as he talked. She wondered if he'd ever actually _listened_ to the crap he said, or thought before he said it.

"God, you're an idiot." She huffed, turning away.

"Excuse me?" He said in a decent imitation of her from moments before.

"I don't even know where to start." She said, shooting him another glare. "You think so little of Katniss that she would forget where she came from? Like she ever could. Like she would even _want_ to. Whether or not she has feelings for a merchant won't change that. You're just mad because she doesn't have feelings for _you._" She flung the words at him, each one making his eye widen with hurt and anger. Madge was too riled up to care. She was so sick of his anti-town bullshit. It wasn't her fault her father was the mayor. It wasn't Peeta's fault for being the baker's son. They both paid for that privilege in ways nobody knew. Punishing them for their luck of birth was no better than the prejudice most merchants had for Katniss and Gale and the entire Seam for being the children of miners.

All of it was crap. Absolute crap.

"Not to mention," Madge continued. "Her mother just _died, _Gale. Her life is going to change drastically today; you're her best friend. Act like it." Madge would have surprised at how many had to remind him of that today.

Gale had the decency to look alarmed for a second before anger flooded his features once more.

"Gale, those boxes aren't going to move themselves." Juniper came in the front door as Katniss came in the back. The tension was obvious but they ignored it as Juni leveled the young man with a look that left no room for argument. Seeing three sets of eyes on him, Gale decided to just move the damn boxes. It was probably safer that way.

Madge huffed in annoyance when he left. Katniss arched a brow, silently asking if she was all right. Madge just shook her head and tried to ignore the way her heart ached after he left.

Katniss wasn't the only one with a secret crush. But at least hers wasn't as hopeless as Madge's.

"Come along girls." Juni called. "I'd like to get your two settled before it gets too late."

"Prim's bringing the goat around and she got that damn cat into a crate."

"Is that his name?" Juni's lips quirked with a hint of a smile. "That all I ever hear you call him."

"No. It's Buttercup." Prim appeared behind her, shooting a glare at Katniss.

"Damn Cat is better." Katniss smirked in return. Madge took in both girls, nothing the way their skin seemed translucent and the deep dark circles under their eyes. It looked like they both needed to sleep for a month. She hoped that they'd both be happy in town. They both deserved it.

"Madge lets get the rest of this outside. Come along when you're ready girls." Juni patted Prim's shoulder gently and sent Katniss a smile. The older girl nodded and held her arms out for Prim. Her sister flew across the room to Katniss' arms without hesitation.

Neither paid attention as Madge and Juniper stepped out with the last of their belongings.

"Do you think we'll be ok?" Prim asked, her voice muffled against her sister's shoulder. They were nearly the same height now.

Katniss took a long around the house they'd lived in all her life. She thought hard for several seconds before kissing the side of Prim's blonde head and nodding.

"Yeah, I think we will be." Prim looked at her them, her blue eyes wet once more. "Ready?"

"Yeah." Prim nodded and the Everdeen girls walked out the door arm and arm.

* * *

A/N- I wanted to say thank you so much for everyone that has favorited, followed and review this little fic. I don't respond, mainly because I don't really know what to say but know that I truly take your words to heart and enjoy what you have to say. Next up…Peeta makes his entrance. Don't expect mooneyes and shy smiles. ;) Please forgive the mistakes. Lisa/Jypz


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

From the outside, Peeta Mellark had it all. Good looks, charm, athletic ability and artistic skills. He was the youngest son of one of the better off merchants in the District. His oldest brother was a war hero. His smile was quick and infectious, his confidence unflappable.

Unfortunately, the view from the other side was a mess.

The glossy veneer of charm was used to hide the anger and self-hate that was nurtured daily by the person that was supposed to love him unconditionally. Madeline Mellark had spent the first part of his life ignoring him save for the occasional slap or harsh reprimand. Then, when the war started and his brother Graham and a handful of young men able to fight joined the rebellion, that all changed.

Graham had never come home. And the day her oldest and favorite son died, something broke in his mother. Peeta and his other brother, Rye, spent their time dodging fists and ignoring the stares and whispers of their neighbors.

_Oh those poor boys._

_Someone should do something._

No one ever did.

Rye constantly got into fights and drank. Peeta used charm to get the girls to the slagheap, and then used that same charm to keep them from hating him. Both were fiercely protective of the other and would often attempt to deflect Madeline. Some times more successful than others.

They both also loved and resented their father. He couldn't-or wouldn't-stand up to his wife, content to let her dole out the abuse so he could run the business. Peeta always wondered if he felt guilty for Madeline being his obvious second choice.

Everyone in town knew about the romance that had been between Bram Mellark and Ginger Johnson. They had been practically betrothed. But then Ginger had met the miner and run off to the Seam. That left Bram with little else to do then settle. And Madeline never forgot it was she that had been settled on.

Peeta was starting to think that his father's neglect to intervene on her son's behalf was worse than his mother's abuse.

When Rye had turned eighteen, he quit the bakery and went to work in the mines. Something that before the war would have been as good as a death sentence. After the war, it was still a dangerous profession. Drilling big holes in the ground to rape it of its minerals, thereby leaving the ground itself unstable was…well…dangerous by default. But now that the greedy regime of President Snow and his Capital were no longer in power, safety precautions were now implemented. Twelve to eighteen hour shifts were no longer allowed and the pay was now decent. It would never make the miner rich, but at least food wouldn't have to be optional anymore.

Peeta realized on some level that he should be mad at Rye for essentially abandoning him to deal with his mother alone. The physical abuse had lessened once he'd gotten taller than her. And now that he was wrestling, his strength often deterred her worst fits. But she wasn't averse to picking up something to whack him with; just to make sure her point was taken.

It also hadn't gotten past Madeline that Peeta didn't seem to get his fathers temperament. He was all Madeline with enough Bram thrown in to temper the worst of the violence in him.

He wasn't a mad at Rye. He was envious. Rye got away. He had moved into one to he new apartment buildings the government were putting up to replace the ramshackle houses of the Seam. Most of them were tiny, but there was running water and the electricity stayed on. He lived there with his girlfriend, a girl that had relocated to District 12 from 4. He was _happy._

Peeta didn't think he ever would be.

He fought daily to suppress the monster living inside of him. The anger, the violence. It could rear up on him at any time. Most times he could tamp it down, he could remind himself that he wasn't his mother.

But other times he would find himself daydreaming about what it would be like to kill his mother. To finally end the pain that he lived with daily. And those were the days he was scared of himself.

But, for all of his demons raging inside, he was kind. He was patient. He still harbored some hope that there was some good in the world. And that happy endings weren't just for storybooks. Even if he didn't think he deserved one.

His friend Delly had found one. Or more to the point, it had found her.

When Thom Hardy returned the year before, his service to the war and Panem evident in the limp he walked with, he marched straight to the cobblers shop. He was Seam, tall and strapping with dark hair and brown eyes. He was also proud and he looked the cobbler straight in the eyes as he told the stunned man that since he'd fought for the freedom of Panem, he'd earned the right to court Mr. Cartwright's daughter.

The Cartwright family as a whole had been shocked. Especially Delly, who hadn't known that Thom even knew who she was. A Seam boy demanding to court a Merchant girl was unheard of in the time of their parents. It was still frowned upon now.

That might have been the case, but when Thom left the cobblers shop that day, he had permission to court Delly. And now they were engaged, with Peeta set to make their toasting cake, much to his mother's horror.

"Peeta quit daydreaming you worthless thing. Finish cleaning up."

"Yes, ma'am." Peeta mumbled. He was standing by the front door, having just flipped the closed sign over, broom in his hand. He was watching the strange little procession moving across the square. Katniss Everdeen, Gale Hawthorne, Juniper Johnson, Madge Undersee and Primrose Everdeen were heading into town, straight for the bakery.

_The Apothecary,_ Peeta corrected himself.

Gale was pushing a cart full of boxes, Prim was leading a goat and Katniss had her bow slung over her shoulder. It made him want to chuckle at the spectacle they must be creating with the other merchants.

"Damn shame." Madeline huffed, her distaste obvious. She'd come up behind Peeta to see what he was looking at.

"What?" Peeta heard himself ask without really wanting to know the answer. The question had been automatic.

"Shame Juniper has to have that trash in her house. I would have sent the both of them to the community home where they belong." Madeline gave a little nod at the end, as if punctuating her point. Peeta rolled his eyes. He knew she was pissed his father had gone to the funeral the day before.

He would have gone as well, for no other reason than to support a classmate. But his mother had insisted that he run the shop during the two hours his father was gone. He'd always felt a kinship to Katniss, since that day in the rain. He'd never acted on it though. Since she'd never tried to speak to him since that day, he'd figured she was embarrassed. He would have like to have been friends with her.

But it was probably for the best. Being friends with him, more to the point, a _girl_ being friends with him had a tendency to have a reputation. He did like to visit the slagheap. The only reason Delly didn't get caught up in the gossip was because she'd been a friend with him since they'd both been in diapers. Peeta didn't like the idea of people talking about Katniss like that. Even though they already did thanks to her friendship with Gale.

He hated the social divide that still existed in Twelve, despite the war. Especially since there wasn't really a Seam anymore. Most of the worst houses had been torn down and rebuilt. The apartment buildings were right on the edge of town and just as many merchants as Seam lived there. Not to mention the influx of people coming in from other districts. Hunger wasn't as prevalent, poverty not as rampant. Things were still hard for all of them, but they all stood on more equal footing now.

But old prejudices die hard, he knew as he watched Gale his scowl way across the road. It made Peeta wonder what his brother died for, what did Thom lose his leg for if things weren't going to change for the better?

"Filth. The lot of them.' Madeline decided as the little parade made it to the apothecary and out of sight. Peeta didn't acknowledge that she had spoken. He merely went back to sweeping the floor.

* * *

The next day, Saturday, Peeta was manning the front counter when Katniss and Primrose came into the bakery. He looked over her slight form, approving of the way she filled out the jeans and t-shirt she was wearing. He smiled when her eyes met his, noticing the pretty blush the warmed her skin before her gaze danced away. He had just opened his mouth to speak when he was interrupted.

"Trades are done around back, girl." Madeline came through the kitchen door when she saw the sisters through the window. Katniss' face twisted into the usual scowl she wore as the smile Prim had been giving him fell.

"Not here to trade." Katniss answered, slamming her palm down on the counter. When she pulled it back Peeta saw the coins she'd been holding laying on the surface. She arched a dark brow at his mother and Peeta turned around to look at her himself. He smirked when he saw how torn she was between kicking the Everdeen girls out and taking their money.

Greed won out, because a minute later, Madeline let out a disgusted huff and disappeared back the way she came.

Peeta chuckled as the door swung closed and turned back to Katniss.

"I'm impressed." He said with a grin. He saw her chest hitch a little before she answered.

"Why?"

"You stood up to Madeline Mellark with only a raised eyebrow and won." Most people in Twelve just went around his mother. It was easier that way.

"Oh." She looked pleased at this and another blush colored her cheeks. Peeta found himself charmed by it.

"What can I get you?"

"A loaf of sourdough, please." Now that Madeline was gone, Katniss seemed nervous. He smiled again to put her at ease and turned to get her bread.

"These are so pretty." Prim gushed, looking at the cakes in the display window.

"Thank you." Peeta said, turning back around and handing Katniss the bag. Their fingers brushed during the exchange and he felt a little zing from the contact. He arched a brow and his grin widened when he saw her eyes bug and her cheeks blush impossibly redder. She jerked her hand back as if she were burned.

"Did you decorate them?" He heard Prim ask, but it took him a second to answer. He was too busy waiting to see if Katniss' eyes would land back on his. Right now they were darting around looking at anything but.

"Yeah. I did. I do most of the decorating."

"That's so cool." Prim sighed, going back to the displays.

"So, Katniss. You settling in okay at your aunts?" He leaned on the counter, his grin fading to a sympathetic smile, his eyes finally meeting her storm cloud colored orbs.

"Uh..uhm.. Yeah. Sure." She stammered, dropping her eye for a brief second.

"I'm very sorry about your mother. I can't imagine how hard it must be." _But at least I won't find you starving under our apple tree this time,_ he thought to himself.

"It's been an adjustment." Katniss said, her fingers crinkling the bag. Prim cast her sad blue eyes on him and he felt a tug in his heart. He really couldn't imagine what it was like to lose not one, but both parents. Their foundation rocked to the core twice. He hoped this time was easier than the last. Though he couldn't figure out how it would be.

On impulse, he reached into the glass case in front of him and pulled out two sugar cookies, sliding them into the small bag and handing it over to Prim. She smiled wide and thanked him.

"We can pay for those." Katniss said immediately, reaching into her pocket for the change Peeta had given her.

"No, Katniss. I want to. It's not charity. It's a gift." He told her, his gaze steady on hers as he practically dared her to either give them back or give him money.

After a few tense seconds of them staring at each other and Prim staring at them, Katniss' pursed her lips and frowned.

"Fine. Thank you." She ground out. Prim bounced up and down, laughing and Peeta grinned again. He felt a sense of accomplishment when Katniss returned his smile, though begrudgingly. "We should get back. Thanks."

"Bye Peeta." Prim waved as the girls left the store. Peeta watched them until they were out of sight. He didn't miss the way Katniss paused at the edge of the window to look back. When she saw him looking at her she scurried away.

Peeta chuckled and picked up the bar towel to wipe of the counter when he heard his mother call for him.

Sighing, he walked through the kitchen door.

"Yeah," He didn't know why, or how he knew. As soon as he was through the door, he raised his left hand to block the rolling pin she'd aimed at him. Pain lanced from his wrist to his shoulder and he grit his teeth to keep from calling out.

"How dare you make a fool out of me? Letting that trash talk to me like that. Then what the hell do you do? You give them cookies? Stupid, stupid boy."

The pin swung again but this time Peeta caught it. He wrenched it out of her hands and threw it on the ground. He held his hand against his body protectively and glared at her.

"Madeline, leave the boy alone." Bram said from across the kitchen. Peeta glared over at him and backed out the door.

"Shut up Bram. It's your fault he's as soft as he is. I'm trying to toughen him up. Then maybe we could actually make a profit instead of letting all the product walk out the front door." The door swung closed again on his mother's voice. His wrist burned like fire and he was afraid she'd done some real damage.

"I'm taking a break." He yelled, the pain making his voice harsh. Tears burned in his eyes as he walked out the front door. He forced himself to let his arm swing naturally by his side even though he was pretty sure it was already starting to bruise. He was two steps away from the Apothecary when he realized that Katniss and Prim were inside there now. Embarrassment almost had him heading back home. He could wrap it up himself and deal with it. He'd about decided that when a kid running down the sidewalk bumped into him, jarring his wrist so hard he nearly cried out.

Peeta held the wrist against his chest and walked the rest of the way to the Apothecary.

* * *

A/N-Hope you enjoy. Review, review, review. :D Lisa/Jypz


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter** **Four**

"Good morning. How can I…Peeta?" Prim looked at him with narrowed blue eyes, her gaze quick to pick out the way he was holding his wrist. She was the only one in the storefront, which Peeta was thankful for. Not that he had any illusions that Prim wouldn't report back to Katniss. People always talked about the Mellarks.

Peeta offered her a smile that he hoped didn't look like a grimace of pain and stopped in front of her.

"Hey, Prim. Is your Aunt around?" His voice sounded rough to his own ears and by the look that passed over the younger blondes face, she didn't miss the shakiness of it either. Then her blue eyes widened comically when they landed on the arm he was holding and she started to nod, making her twin braids dance.

"Sure. Aunt Juni!" Prim moved to the end of the counter where the opening to the back rooms was.

"Yes, Prim?" Juni stepped through the door, took one look at Peeta and pursed her lips. "Hello, Peeta. Come on back."

Peeta moved around the counter and past Prim, to the small examination room Juni led him too. Prim waited for the door to swing closed before she bolted up the stairs to the apartment.

"What can I do for you, Peeta?" Juni patted the thin cot before she walked to the sink and washed her hands. When she turned back, Peeta was sitting on the cot, cradling his arm. She could tell it was swelling and a bruise was developing along the length of his forearm. Juni pursed her lips again and shook her head. "Let me see."

Peeta let her take his arm in her hands, which were cold and gentle against the painful throb of his injury. He hissed when she pressed a particularly painful spot.

"Can you move your wrist?"

Peeta let out a choked groan of pain when he tried. When she tried to have him wiggle his fingers he couldn't.

"Well, Peeta. I think it's broken. Only way to be sure is to go to the doctor so he can do an x-ray." Juni leaned against the chest of drawers she kept supplies in and looked him square in the eye. "And of course, the Doc might want to know what happened." She arched a brow, silently telling him she wanted to know, too. Peeta just gave her a grin and a cavalier shrug.

"I don't have the money for that. And I just busted it against the side of the table. You can set it, right?"

Juniper gave him a long look, her green eyes gazing at him with sad knowledge in them. She didn't like thinking how many times she'd been here with this boy. And she didn't want to guess how many more times she'd be here in the future.

"Peeta, when do you turn eighteen?"

"In December." Peeta narrowed his eyes at her question.

"What do you plan to do then?"

"What do you mean?" The shutter that went over the boy's eyes made her sigh. She paused a moment, as if considering her words.

"When Rye turned eighteen, he went to work in the mines. Is that something you're considering?"

Juni saw a flare of temper behind the calm shutter of his midnight eyes. She knew she was overstepping the invisible line he'd drawn the first time he'd come to see her on his own. He'd been so young, barely twelve, she remembered. It was right after the war started and his brother Graham had come home in a box.

Madeline Mellark hadn't taken the death of her oldest son very well. She'd taken her grief out on Peeta. He'd had bruised ribs, a split lip and deep nail marks in his biceps. He'd been so small, then. Well before he'd developed the muscle and bulk he carried now. But, he sat on her table then, stoic and wide eyed, the blue glittery with tears he refused to let fall.

Once she'd treated him and sent him home, she'd walked herself up to Bram Mellark and asked him just what he thought was going on under his roof. She'd ignored his grief; it was no excuse for allowing the boys' mother to do that to his youngest son. He'd sworn he hadn't known and that he would look into it.

Rye was her patient a week later.

Juniper had wanted to go to the authorities. Both boys begged her not too. Living under the threat of their mother was apparently preferable to living in the community home. The sad thing was, Juni had to agree.

As she took in Peeta now, there was no trace of that twelve-year-old boy, except in the eyes. They were as blue as they were then and just as troubled, despite the wall he built up. And right now that wall had slipped and he was glaring at her with barely concealed anger.

"I want the bakery." He said simply. Juni nodded and only hesitated a second before speaking again.

"Then, I suggest when you turn eighteen, the next time she does this, press charges for assault. You don't deserve this. And if your damn father isn't' going to do anything about it, you should." She finished quietly. Peeta blinked in surprise, that wall he put up slipping further for the briefest of seconds before the shutter slammed down again. He nodded once to acknowledge what she said but he didn't offer anything else.

Taking what she could get, Juni started to gather the supplies she'd need to set his arm. "I'm going to call Prim in here now to assist, all right?" It wasn't really a question but she waited until Peeta nodded before moving to the door and calling for her youngest niece.

Prim came in a minute later, her smile soft and her eyes concerned. As they set to work on setting his arm, he tried to laugh and joke with Prim. But his obvious attempt at distracting her from the cause of his injury only had her responding smile look forced. He stopped after a few minutes, his jaw clenched and a red tinge of shame on his cheeks.

"All right, Peeta. You're set. Keep that arm out of the shower. Try not to get it wet at all. Paint some of those pretty pictures of yours on the cast if you want. Come back in four weeks and we'll cut you out of that thing. Please," she stepped in front of him, her green eyes locking with his. "Please be careful."

"Always." Peeta said with a return of his grin.

"I'll be right back, Prim. You can start cleaning those things up."

"Yes ma'am."

Katniss stood by the stairs to the apartment, staying just out of sight so Peeta didn't know she'd seen him. Her heart ached at the sight of his arm wrapped up in the hard cast. Tears sprang to her eyes at the thought that his mother had done that. Because there was absolutely no question in her mind how the injury had happened. She wanted to march right over to the bakery and send one of her arrows straight through that witch's eye.

She didn't understand how anyone could do that to their child.

"You can come out now, Katniss." Juni called when the bell over the door rang, indicating Peeta had left. Katniss stepped out of the shadows and into the shop, her gaze trained on the door. Juni gave her a sad smile and patted her shoulder as she moved towards the back.

"Aunt Juni, he didn't pay." Prim said, stepping out into the shop with her sister and aunt. She looked very upset, her nose and eyes pink with tears she was trying to keep at bay.

"Bram will come by later and settle up."

Katniss scowled at that. She crossed her arms over her chest, her brows pulling tight over her eyes and her heart breaking in her chest.

"He can make sure to come pay for your services but he can't do anything about the reason Peeta keeps needing them?" Nothing could make her believe that this was Peeta's first time visiting her Aunt. Nothing. Juni didn't answer the outburst. There wasn't really any answer she could give.

"It's so sad." Prim said, shaking her head. "Isn't there anything we can do?"

Juniper shook her head sadly. "If I report her, then he gets sent to the home. And I bet you can imagine how much he wants to go there."

"So he just gets beat?"

"Katniss," Prim started but was cut off by the sharp silver eyes her sister looked at her with.

"It's not that simple, Katniss." Juni said.

"Of course its that simple. If you see someone in trouble, you help. You don't just stand by and let a little boy get beat because its easier than turning his bitch of a mother in. Or ignoring a little girl whose family is starving because her mother is so overcome with grief she can't function. You don't let people die because you're too damn scared to do anything!" By the time Katniss was done saying probably the most she'd ever said about anything in her whole life, she was breathing hard, her eyes stinging with anger, tears and accusation that was pointed squarely at her aunt.

No matter how much she'd started to respect and even like Juniper, it was still fact that she was letting Peeta be abused and that she'd let her own family almost starve. Ironically, if it hadn't been for Peeta, they might have. She hated this. Hated knowing that the person that was responsible for her and Prim was just as weak as her mother.

Juniper stood stone still, her hands clasped tightly in front of her, her lips pressed into a tight line and her eyes shining with something Katniss refused to see as regret.

"I'm not going to make an excuse for what happened to you when your father died. I didn't find out about it until much later. By then you were out in the woods, supporting the three of you and I didn't figure that you would want some merchant aunt you didn't know sticking her nose in your business. I regret everyday that I wasn't more a part of your lives and that I couldn't stand up to my parents the way Ginger did. I'm sorry. And I'm sorry that I can't do for Peeta what you want me to do. He's almost eighteen. His life will be in his own hands soon enough. Things can't always be the way we think they should be. That's just a reality of it and its mostly never fair." Juniper rubbed her hands on her pants legs and pursed her lips as if considering saying something else. But instead, she just shook her head and moved to go to the stairs.

"Prim, I'll be upstairs for a few minutes. If you need anything come get me."

Prim just shook her head again tears shining in her eyes as well. Katniss watched her aunt go upstairs her body practically vibrating with anger and more than a little bit of sorrow. She looked at her younger sister, the obvious signs of her trying not to start sobbing all over her face.

"Katniss, it will be ok." Prim offered, her voice quietly reassuring Katniss the best she could. Katniss shook her head, sending her braid whipping around her head.

"For us maybe. But what about him?" Katniss didn't wait for her to answer. She took off out the back of the store, pausing only to collect her bow on her way. She was heading out the woods. That was the only place where anything made any sense.

* * *

A/N-I have to apologize again for letting myself fall off my update schedule. Real life is giving me a damn good bootie kick these last couple of weeks. Hopefully it will all sort out soon. Anyhoo, for the reviewer that asked me when the Gadge is going to start, be patient. I will start laying the groundwork in the next chapter. I'm sorry it's a little short. I hope you guys like this one and I'll be updating Games next, then Promise this weekend. Review, review, review. I could use the boost to my mood. :D Lisa/Jypz


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